Vcloud on BeyondVMhttps://www.beyondvm.com/tags/vcloud/
Recent content in Vcloud on BeyondVMHugo -- gohugo.ioen-usContent Copyright 2015+ Ben ThomasMon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000technologyvmwareautomationHow To: ThinApp Firefox 29 and Plugins for vCloud Director 5.1.xhttps://www.beyondvm.com/2014/08/how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5.1.x/
ArticlesTutorialsvCloudMon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000https://www.beyondvm.com/2014/08/how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5.1.x/<p>In response to <a href="http://www.beyondvm.com/2014/06/alert-firefox-30-is-not-a-supported-browser-for-vcloud-5-1-x/">this article</a> about Firefox 30 and vCloud 5.1.x and <a href="http://www.beyondvm.com/2014/01/alert-java-jre-7u51-breaks-vcloud-uploads/">this article</a> about Java updates breaking <strong>everything</strong> I decided to throw together a quick How-to on using ThinApp to create a sandboxed version of Firefox and Java that solves both of these problems pretty well.</p>
<p>This ThinApp setup includes a legacy version of Java (7u25) which is super old but it should help with accessing the following (not exhaustive list, just things I have run into, please help expand list):</p>
<ul>
<li>UCS Manager 2.1.x</li>
<li>vCloud Director 5.1.x Uploads</li>
<li>HP iLO 2.x</li>
<li>Legacy DRAC</li>
<li>vCloud VPN</li>
<li>EMC Unisphere</li>
</ul>
<p>Onward, but first an important caveat:</p>
<div class="alert alert-danger" role="alert">
<h4>This process creates an insecure browser installation, DO NOT browse the internet with this configuration…ever.</h4>
<h4>You have been warned.</h4>
</div>
<p><strong>Note</strong>: I am not a ThinApp expert (and I usually avoid windows, hah!) so there may be a more elegant way to do this, if anyone has tips let me know!</p>
<p>First, collect the correct tools, I attached the versions that I used at the end of the post:</p>
<ol>
<li>Firefox 29.0.1 <a href="https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/29.0.1/win32/en-US/">Link</a></li>
<li>Java 7u25 (32 bit) <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase7-521261.html#jre-7u25-oth-JPR">Link</a></li>
<li>Flash Installer (for correct OS, I used Win8.1) <a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/">Link</a></li>
<li>VMRC Installer for 5.1.x from your instance (or mine from 5.1.x below)</li>
<li>VMware ThinApp 5.x <a href="http://www.vmware.com/go/trythinapp">Trial</a></li>
<li><strong>Clean</strong> Windows 7 or 8 Capture VM (Base install without security software is best)</li>
</ol>
<p>After Windows is installed, the following are steps to take to create the package:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Take snapshot</strong> of base VM</li>
<li><strong>Install</strong> ThinApp 5.x</li>
<li><strong>Take snapshot</strong> (this is a theme, I have found a successful ThinApp capture is snapshot heavy)</li>
<li><strong>Start</strong> “ThinApp Setup Capture” utility, Click Next</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_01.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_01.png" alt="Setup Capture" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Click</strong> Prescan</li>
<li><strong>Install</strong> Firefox
<ol>
<li><strong>Choose</strong> Custom</li>
<li><strong>De-select</strong> “Maintenance Service”</li>
</ol></li>
<li><strong>Install</strong> Flash (Latest version is fine)</li>
<li><strong>Install</strong> Java
<ol>
<li><strong>Choose</strong> “Change Destination Location”</li>
<li>Install to “c:\java”</li>
</ol></li>
<li><strong>Install</strong> VMRC Plugin</li>
<li><p><strong>Launch Firefox</strong>, perform the following tasks</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Navigate</strong> to about:config in Firefox, Click “I’ll be careful, I promise!”</li>
<li><strong>Change</strong> the following settings
<ol>
<li>app.update.auto – false</li>
<li>app.update.enabled – false</li>
<li>app.update.silent – false</li>
<li>app.update.mode – 2</li>
<li>extensions.update.autoUpdateDefault – false</li>
<li>extensions.update.enabled – false</li>
<li>(optional, disables login remembering) signon.rememberSignons – false</li>
<li>(optional, enables pop-ups since vCD uses these) dom.disable_open_during_load – false</li>
</ol></li>
<li><strong>Verify</strong> plugin updating is disabled:
<ol>
<li><strong>Navigate</strong> to Menu -&gt; Addons</li>
<li><strong>Click</strong> Plugins</li>
<li><strong>Click</strong> the gear icon and make sure this option is not selected</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_02.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_02.png" alt="Plugins" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li>Perform the following tasks to verify that Java is installed
<ol>
<li><strong>Navigate</strong> to this <a href="https://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp">Link</a></li>
<li><strong>Click</strong> “Activate”</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_03.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_03.png" alt="Activate" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<pre><code>3. **Click** to “Allow and Remember”
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_04.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_04.png" alt="Remember" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
4. **Check** the “Don’t Ask Again…” Checkbox and **Click** Later
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_05.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_05.png" alt="Don&#39;t Ask" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
5. **Click** the Run button at the prompt to verify the Java applet loads
</code></pre></li>
<li><p><strong>Take Snapshot</strong> (just in case)</p></li>
<li><p>Back to the ThinApp Capture Utility, <strong>click</strong> Postscan</p></li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_06.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_06.png" alt="Postscan" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li>Click OK</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_07.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_07.png" alt="Postscan" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li><p>This will take some time, so grab some coffee.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>De-select</strong> all entry points other than Firefox, <strong>click</strong> Next</p></li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_08.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_08.png" alt="Entry Points" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Click</strong> Next</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_09.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_09.png" alt="Next" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Click</strong> Next</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_10.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_10.png" alt="Next" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Select</strong> “Restricted write access”, <strong>click</strong> Next.</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_11.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_11.png" alt="Restricted Write" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Select</strong> “Same Directory…”, <strong>click</strong> Next.</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_12.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_12.png" alt="Directory" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
<ol>
<li><strong>Select</strong> No (unless you want to share), <strong>click</strong> next</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_13.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_13.png" alt="Share Information" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Click</strong> next (I don’t use the ThinDirect feature because it only works with IE)</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_14.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_14.png" alt="Redirection" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Update</strong> inventory name to “Firefox 29.0.1″ to differentiate it.</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_15.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_15.png" alt="Inventory Name" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Select</strong> “Use one of the entry points” then pick “Mozilla Firefox.exe”, <strong>Check</strong> “Compress virtual package”, <strong>Click:</strong></li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_16.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_16.png" alt="Package Settings" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Click</strong> OK</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_17.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_17.png" alt="Capture" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Ignore</strong> warnings (like a boss) and <strong>click</strong> Next</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_18.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_18.png" alt="Warnings" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Click</strong> “Edit Package.ini”</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_19.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_19.png" alt="Edit Package" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<ol>
<li>In Package.ini, <strong>Locate</strong> the block “[Mozilla Firefox.exe]” and perform the following changes to the block
<ol>
<li>Add “StatusbarDisplayName=BeyondVM Firefox 29.0.1 Build “</li>
<li>Add “CommandLine=%ProgramFilesDir%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe -no-remote”</li>
<li>Rename block from [Mozilla Firefox.exe] to [Mozilla Firefox 29.0.1.exe]</li>
</ol></li>
<li><strong>Save</strong> Package.ini</li>
<li><strong>Click</strong> Build</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>Wait, this will also take some time, more coffee!</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Click Finish</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_21.png" data-featherlight="image"><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/ff_thin_21.png" alt="Finish!" class="img-responsive img-thumbnail lightbox"/></a>
</p>
<p>At this point you will have a functioning ThinApp package file all bundled up in the single exe file in the bin directory. You might notice that this package is quite large, I performed the following additional steps to my package to get it down to about 350MB from over 800.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Edit</strong> Package.ini and perform the following modifications
<ol>
<li><strong>Add</strong> the following section below the compression type
<pre>
[FileList]
ExcludePattern=<em>.bak,</em>.msi,<em>.mst,</em>.cab,*.msp
</pre></li>
<li><strong>Delete</strong> all entry points other than [Mozilla Firefox 29.0.1.exe]</li>
<li><strong>Delete</strong> the following directories from the package (note: I have not exhaustively tested this, some of these may be required but it worked for me)
<ul>
<li>%drive_C%\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows Defender</li>
<li>%ProgramFilesDir(x64)%</li>
<li>%SystemRoot%\WinSxS</li>
<li>%SystemRoot%\assembly</li>
<li>%SystemRoot%\Installer</li>
<li>%SystemRoot%\Logs</li>
</ul></li>
<li><strong>Run</strong> build.bat as <strong>an Administrator</strong></li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>After that the package is pretty snappy and should be good to go. It will create a profile directory next to the EXE to save settings in, this will include popup allowing and certificate exceptions. The first time I logged into my vCloud instance I had to tell it to run the JRE again, I was unable to figure out how to get it to never ask during the build process but it wasn’t that bad to just do it the first time.</p>
<p>These are all of the files required to do this as well as the package I created following these directions. My pre-built package will expire in about 60d unless I can get VMware to give me a community license (hint hint).</p>
<ul>
<li><i class='fa fa-file-archive-o'></i><a href='http://downloads.beyondvm.com/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/BeyondVM%20Firefox%2029.0.1.zip' alt='BeyondVM Firefox 29 Bundle'> BeyondVM Firefox 29 Bundle</a>
</li>
<li><i class='fa fa-file-o'></i><a href='http://downloads.beyondvm.com/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/Firefox%20Setup%2029.0.exe' alt='Firefox Setup 29.0'> Firefox Setup 29.0</a>
</li>
<li><i class='fa fa-file-o'></i><a href='http://downloads.beyondvm.com/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/FirefoxPortableESR_24.7.0_English.paf.exe' alt='FirefoxPortableESR 24.7.0 English Paf'> FirefoxPortableESR 24.7.0 English Paf</a>
</li>
<li><i class='fa fa-file-o'></i><a href='http://downloads.beyondvm.com/2014-08-how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-dot-1-x/vmware-vmrc-win32-x86.exe' alt='VMware VMRC Plugin'> VMware VMRC Plugin</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Please leave a comment if there is anything I can improve!</p>
<p>Lastly, the caveat we started with:</p>
<p><div class="alert alert-danger" role="alert">
<h4>This process creates an insecure browser installation, DO NOT browse the internet with this configuration…ever.</h4>
<h4>You have been warned.</h4>
</div>
</p>
<p>Goodnight and Good Luck.</p>
Alert: Firefox 30 is not a supported browser for vCloud 5.1.xhttps://www.beyondvm.com/2014/06/alert-firefox-30-is-not-a-supported-browser-for-vcloud-5.1.x/
AnnouncementsvCloudThu, 19 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000https://www.beyondvm.com/2014/06/alert-firefox-30-is-not-a-supported-browser-for-vcloud-5.1.x/<p><strong>Update (8/4/2014):</strong> I have <a href="http://www.beyondvm.com/2014/08/how-to-thinapp-firefox-29-and-plugins-for-vcloud-director-5-1-x/">created a tutorial</a> on how to create a ThinApp package to help get around this, check it out!</p>
<hr />
<p>If you suddenly start seeing something the following error in vCloud Director 5.1.x:</p>
<p><img src="https://www.beyondvm.com/img/posts/2014-06-alert-firefox-30-is-not-a-supported-browser-for-vcloud-5-dot-1-x/vcloud_ff_error.png" alt="Error" /></p>
<p>This is because your Firefox upgraded to Firefox 30 automatically, as it does. This error seems to be due to some sort of change that Mozilla added into Firefox 30, I haven’t tracked it down yet (if anyone has let me know!). Even force enabling the plugin won’t help, Firefox 30 looks to have gone to an whitelist only model, doing so will make this error go away but the console sessions never connect.</p>
<p>That being said, VMware has <a href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2034554">stated</a> that Firefox 30 will not be a supported browser for vCloud 5.1.x (the VMRC plugin doesn’t actually function so it is not a question of only supportability). Unfortunately it is also not supported in IE 10, 11 or Chrome 35 so the only option is really Firefox 29 (or Firefox 3.6). The only solution is to upgrade to vCloud 5.5.x, which while true isn’t really a solution.</p>
<p>As a note, I have had success using ThinApp to isolate a Firefox 29.0.1 with the VMRC plugin, Flash and Java and Portable Firefox may be an option too. Either way, be sure to disable auto-update (Firefox Options -&gt; Advanced -&gt; Update) if you downgrade to Firefox 29.0.1. There are some <a href="http://blogs.vmware.com/thinapp/2009/12/multiple-instances-of-an-application.html#more-1268">tips here</a> on how to do that, the big one being the ‘-no-remote’ option to allow the ThinApp Firefox to launch its own process.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> It seems that installing the Firebug plugin and enabling that will allow the console to connect in Firefox 30 after forcing the plugins to activate. While cumbersome, this is another workaround.</p>
<p><strong>Update 2:</strong> (7/29/14): I have found another solution! It is possible to use the <a href="http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox-portable-esr">Portable Firefox ESR Version</a> (Extended Support Release), this is a Firefox 24 package that will run in a sandbox. It will use the installed plugins on your system so if your Java version is <a href="http://www.beyondvm.com/2014/01/alert-java-jre-7u51-breaks-vcloud-uploads/">also incompatible</a> that won’t work. One thing to change, perform the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Locate FirefoxPortable.ini in your extracted ESR download (might be in Other/Source directory).</li>
<li>Copy to the root of Portable Firefox ESR install directory</li>
<li>Edit file and change the “AllowMultipleInstances” variable to true.</li>
<li>Save</li>
</ol>
<p>This will allow the Portable Firefox and Installed Firefox to run at the same time.</p>